Psychological Distress after inpatient non-cardiac Surgery

Abstract

Objective: Describe the incidence and natural progression of psychological distress after major surgery. Summary Background: The recovery process following surgery imposes physical and mental burdens that put patients at risk of psychological distress. Understanding the natural course of psychological distress after surgery is critical to supporting timely and tailored management of high-risk individuals. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Measurement of Exercise Tolerance before Surgery (METS) multicentre cohort study (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK). METS recruited adult participants (≥40 y) undergoing elective inpatient non-cardiac surgery and followed them for one year. The primary outcome was the severity of psychological distress measured using the anxiety-depression item of EQ-5D-3L. We used cumulative link mixed models to characterize the time trajectory of psychological distress among relevant patient subgroups. We also explored potential predictors of severe and/or worsened psychological distress at one year using multivariable logistic regression models. Results: Of 1,546 participants, moderate-to-severe psychological distress was reported by 32.6% of participants before surgery, 27.3% at 30 days after surgery, and 26.2% at 1 year after surgery. Psychological distress appeared to improve over time among females (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.65–0.95) and patients undergoing orthopedic procedures (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.55–0.91), but not among males (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.87–1.07) or patients undergoing non-orthopedic procedures (0.95, 95% CI 0.87–1.04). Among the average middle-aged adult, there were no time-related changes (OR 0.94, 97% CI 0.75–1.13) whereas the young-old (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.79–0.99) and middle-old (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.73–1.01) had small improvements. Predictors of severe and/or worsened psychological distress at one year were younger age, poor self-reported functional capacity, smoking history, and undergoing open surgery. Conclusion: One-third of adults experience moderate to severe psychological distress before major elective non-cardiac surgery. This distress tends to persist or worsen over time among select patient subgroups.